January-June 2025
January 2
Pulling a very heavily loaded U-Haul trailer that was donated by Rick Frederickson, I (Rainelde Raymond) was on my way. My vehicle was headed south towards Ashville, North Carolina to areas damaged by the 2024 Helene Hurricane.
January 9
The Blanchardville Village Board met Monday, January 6 and accepted the proposal from Vierbicher Associates in helping them apply for the DNR grant for a new bathhouse in the lower McKellar Park for the campground.
January 16
This will be the fifth year that Cody Stamm of Argyle will be participating in the Snowball Cancer Challenge’s Valentine 500 snowmobile ride that begins Bergland, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula on February 6 and then again on February 13. This year Stamm will be taking a few local riders with him on this 500 mile ride.
January 23
The Argyle Village Board discussed the officials and public meetings that will take place on February 6 and 13, respectively, to discuss the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) pavement replacement project for Hwy 78 & 81 coming up in 2028.
January 30
At last month’s meeting of the Pecatonica Area School Board, there were some poignant discussions around school safety. In continuing those discussions with various school board members since that meeting, District Administrator Dr. Dani Scott came to the board at this month’s meeting on January 21 to give some thoughts that were brought up.
February 6
The Blanchardville clinic will be closing and holding the last clinic day on Thursday, March 13, 2025. This closure is necessary to ensure the safety of our patients and staff during the Blanchardville Main Street construction project. Several volunteer Emergency Medical Services throughout the state and country are struggling with keeping the service as a volunteer service due to lack of staffing. Argyle, Blanchardville and Hollandale (which is a first responder service) are all struggling. The Blanchardville Public Safety Committee met on Monday night, January 27, during their portion of the Committee-On-Committee’s meeting to discuss the service and what can be done moving forward to keep it affordable for the village and surrounding communities they serve. During the Public Works Committee meeting on Monday night, January 27, the committee discussed what was to be done with the clock that is in the steeple at the United Methodist Church building. The United Methodist Church is for sale. It officially closed on August 31, 2024. The Methodist Church is the oldest church in Blanchardville. The village owns the 122 year old clock.
February 13
On Sunday, February 2nd, at the annual meeting, Argyle-Apple Grove voted to rebuild at the site of the former Apple Grove church that was destroyed the previous year by a tornado. “It has been a long journey of grieving, prayer, discernment, and listening,” says Pastor Dan Bohlman. Needing a last minute gift for that sweetheart? Don’t look any further than the Bee Havens Flower Farm right here in Blanchardville.
February 20
Members of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation met with Argyle community members to talk about the WIS 78 and WIS 81 road project that is scheduled to happen in 2028. One of the big discussion points was adding a stop sign to the east bound WIS 81 road at the intersection of WIS 78 & 81, taking the major intersection in town from a three way stop to an all way stop.
February 27
On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Village of Argyle hosted its first Advancing Argyle Meeting at the Village Community Building. With over 50 attendees representing local businesses, organizations, and community members, the meeting served as a pivotal step toward unifying efforts to support business growth, enhance community amenities, and develop future initiatives to strengthen Argyle. Westby was a busy place over the weekend, seeing many wrestlers punch their ticket to go to state, just like Pec-Argyle’s Lukas Orloff (126#) and Aidan Gruenenfelder (120#) who both won their brackets. The first place match that Gruenenfelder wrestled just so happened to be his 200th win in his wrestling career. Both will be going up to the Kohl Center this weekend hoping to bring back more hardware.
March 6
Looking for a good drink that will give you that burst of clean energy and is healthy for you? Look no further than the newest business to Blanchardville’s Main Street, Fuel Good Nutrition.
Two Pec-Argyle wrestlers partocipated in WIAA State Wrestling at the Kohl Center from February 27-March 1.
Aidan Gruenenfelder defeated Liam Carey of Mineral Point, Derek Godard of Auburndale and finally Braden Johnson of Cumberland to win Division 3 120# weight class. This is Gruenenfelder’s second state title after winning 106# last year. Lukas Orloff defeated Jack Wendling of Valders and Mason Dewing of Crandon before going against Co’ji Campbell of Kenosha St. Joseph. Unfortunately, Orloff wasn’t able to defeat Campbell, who became the WIAA’s 30th four-time state wrestling campion, ending Orloff’s season with a second at state.
March 13
Friends of McKellar Park member Marsha Crooks asked the Blanchardville Village Board at their meeting on Monday, March 3 to approve the site plans for the swimming pond the group has been working on to install in McKellar Park sometime this spring. The board unanimously approved the plans. The Village of Hollandale reviewed the compliance for the conditional use permit for Amazing Auto Sales dealership after hearing some complaints.
March 20
The Argyle School Board initially approved the baseball and softball co-op with Black Hawk School District for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years at their meeting on Wednesday, March 12. The Black Hawk School District’s Board of Education also met that the same time with the same agenda item. They placed a contingency on the approval of the contract. That contingency was then given to the Argyle School Board who denied the contingency. RBS Activewear was damaged after a driver having a medical emergency crashed into their building, into the embroidery department Monday night, March 17. Rue Service Station in Blanchardville announced on their Facebook that it will officially close its doors on March 28. Luke and Kristi Rue took over operations of the business from Gary Gruenenfelder mid-summer of 2021, renting the buildings from the Blanchardville Co-op Oil Association located at 200 Pine Street.
March 27
The Argyle Public Library Board of Trustees has named Bailey Watson as the new Director of the Library. She begins this position on March 25, 2025. At a special board meeting on March 17 for the Blanchardville Village Board, they approved creating a limited time employee position for the Recreation Director in charge of only the pond and the campground at a rate of $20/ hour. The Pecatonica School Board heard, at their regular meeting on Monday, March 17, about some staffing changes taking place in the elementary school during the 2025-26 school year, along with approving Camp Pecatonica for another year. This will be Camp Pecatonica’s last year in the high school. In the summer of 2026, it will move back to the elementary school.
April 3
Glamping is a word created by combining glamours and camping together. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, glamping is outdoor camping with amenities and comforts (such as beds, electricity, and access to indoor plumbing) not usually used when camping. For Bri Thompson, it is a great way for people to get back into nature and enjoying all the great features Blanchardville has to offer while staying at Pink River Ranch.
April 10
It has been a long and busy 20 years for Diana Kaiser and she is ready from a little bit of down time as she says good-bye to managing the Viking Cafe. Members of the public were welcomed through the doors of the new hospital, Lafayette Hospital + Clinics, in Darlington on Wednesday, April 2. The McKellar Park log cabin was moved on Saturday, April 5 from the upper McKellar Park to its final resting place next to the Blanchardville Historical Society building on S. Main Street in Blanchardville. This move took over five years to complete.
April 17
The Pecatonica Softball team requested the Blanchardville Village Board allow them to erect a permanent backfield fence at McKellar Park at the board meeting on Monday, April 7. The board ultimately tabled the request seeking further information. The Argyle Village Board held their regularly scheduled meeting on April 2 where the board heard discussions had at the Advancing Argyle meeting regarding the park long with a conditional use permit request.
April 24
The Hollandale Village Board at their regular board meeting on April 8 discussed what were the next steps for the Amazing Auto Sales business after they continued to be out of compliance of their conditional use permit. The Argyle School Board met on Wednesday, April 9 early due to the FFA Banquet but were still able to discuss and approve the contract with Pecatonica for a 50/50 split of a Spanish teacher. A Stoughton man pled guilty on Monday, April 21 in the Iowa County Circuit Court for driving a vehicle with a PAC second offense that killed a Blanchardville man in December 2023.
May 1
The Argyle/Blackhawk softball and baseball teams together will be doing fundraisers for the Krahenbuhl family of Argyle whose 4-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with B-Cell Leukemia. The sun was shining, the temperature was warm and the earth was moving on Tuesday, April 22, Earth Day. Fourth and fifth grade students from Pecatonica Area Elementary School filed off a bus onto land owned by Bill Smith on County Road A, southeast of Hollandale to plant 26 trees along Gordon Creek. The Pecatonica Area School District’s Board of Education, at their regular board meeting on Monday, April 21, heard discussions on sharing Spanish teacher Jaimie Gordon approximately 50/50 with the Argyle School District for the 2025-2026 school year and ultimately denied the contract, asking for other for the Argyle students to be able to utilize Gordon.
May 8
Bailey Watson has worked as the Argyle Public Library Director for a month now and has enjoyed her time in this small town. Millions of people are affected by mental illness each year. The month of May helps raise awareness, reduce stigma and promote mental health resources.
May 15
Former owner of the 39 acres of land that the Village of Blanchardville purchased 2022, Terry Erickson, met with the village board at their regular board meeting on Monday, May 5, to discuss the contract for the land purchase and the termination letter that he received in 2024. The Argyle Village Board met on Wednesday, May 7 and discussed putting in a stop sign that would stop traffic heading east on Hwy 81 at the intersection of Hwy 78 and 81 in the downtown portion of the village. The Hollandale Village Board, at their regular board meeting on Wednesday, May 7, discussed next steps for fixing the growing repairs happening at the Hollandale Lending Library.
May 22
Stress builds up in our bodies and creates a lot of aches and pains. Angie Gruenenfelder is looking forward to helping you release that stress through her new business in Blanchardville, Angie Rae Wellness. The Argyle School Board met on Wednesday, May 14, where they heard from Garry Rossing and Greg Rossing discuss the possibility of starting the Distinguished Alumni Awards program.
May 29
The Pecatonica Area School Board held their regular board meeting on Monday, May 19 where they made decisions on additional referendum projects that were tabled from last months meeting. The Lafayette County Board at their meeting on Tuesday night, May 20, heard from volunteer members of the United Neighbors Free Clinic hoping to open in Darlington in November, asking for the blessing of the board of supervisors.
June 5
Construction and Project Engineer Karter Zajicek from Jewell Associates Engineers met with Hollandale residents at Wednesday, May 21 to discuss the County K road project that started this week. Chandler Neimann from Payne & Dolan, contractor, was also present and answered questions. This year, the 2025 Argyle Dairy Queen will be Izabella (Izzy) Isely. There was a lot of discussion on the final plat for the annexed lands in both the Planning Commission Committee meeting, which met May 26, and at the full village board that met on Monday, June 2, but overall the final plat was approved and has moved on to the next steps. The Argyle Community Parks Foundation is a recently created 501c3 organization dedicated to enriching the heart of the village of Argyle by creating and maintaining clean, safe, and inclusive spaces where children can play, seniors can stay active, and neighbors can connect. They are all about bringing the community together to build better parks—where kids can dream, seniors can thrive and everyone belongs.
June 12
Make sure to keep the morning of Saturday, June 14 free so that it can be filled with a tasty breakfast with a side of farm life for the 2025 Lafayette County Dairy Breakfast hosted by Holmesville Dairy LLC, Travis and Stephanie Holmes, of Argyle at 6074 Everson Road. This year’s Blanchardville Dairy Queen is Avery Webster. The crowning will take place Thursday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Ryan Memorial Park during Music in the Park. The Blanchardville Village Board at their board meeting on Monday, June 2 did approve the final plat of the annexed lands that was first approved at the Planning Commission Committee meeting on Monday, May 27 and they also endorsed Karen Mayhew and Elaine Becker to bring the Woollets LLC into the village and use the village as backing when they are applying for grants. Other issues brought up was the raze order issued for 114 W. Elm Street and the discussion of placing trees on Main Street, suggested by members of the Blanchardville Woman’s Club.
June 19
In June of 2024, Apple Grove Lutheran Church was leveled by an EF-2 tornado. In response to this devastating event, the community, surrounding communities, and churches from all over the country responded with generosity and compassion. Through this outpouring, the cemetery has been restored and the debris has been cleaned up. Although the church building was destroyed, the church remains very much alive, and the parish of Yellowstone/Argyle-Apple Grove continues to thrive. Clerk-treasurer Holly DeWitt and Public Works Director Jerry Doescher talked the Hollandale Village board at their meeting on Tuesday, June 3 about the financial agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Hwy 191 project scheduled for 2032.
June 26
For the first time ever, the Pecatonica Valley Leader has been chosen by the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors to be the newspaper that the county will use to post all of their legal notices and minutes, establishing them as the official newspaper of the county. This was all decided at their meeting on Tuesday,
June 17
The River Bend Cafe opened their doors on May 22 after Taylor and Whitney Berg purchased the business from Diana Kaiser, who retired from owning and working at the Viking Cafe for 20 years. That transition has gone so smoothly and the community has embraced the new owners of the much loved restaurant.
Former Pecatonica Area School District Board of Education member Roy Ruegsegger asked board members at their meeting on Monday, June 16 to figure out why so students and staff are leaving the district and what they should be doing to keep them here.